


mastering the heat

by brunetteandblond



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Adora Learns How to Deal with Emotions, Adora's a Mess, Angst with a Happy Ending, Catra's Catra and We Love Her For It, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, catradora, how to move on, supportive Catra, supportive friends, supportive girlfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25661023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brunetteandblond/pseuds/brunetteandblond
Summary: Adora swiftly turned around, her chest and head pounding as she found herself face to face with Catra, who was looking at her like… no. She swallowed it. Swallowed whatever she was starting to feel. The rage. The embarrassment. The… whatever weird feeling she had around Catra. The feeling that she could only describe as heat.._.Or five times Adora avoided intimacy, emotions, and comfort and the one time she sought it out and accepted it.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 250





	mastering the heat

i

Adora tried to keep her attention on the sounds of the mechanical fans roaring and not on her arm. Her small fingers wrapped around the scratchy texture of her blanket and she squeezed. Harder and harder until her knuckles turned white. Until her fingernails partially dug into her skin. But it wasn’t enough. She chewed her bottom lip, digging so deep that she drew blood. She’d do anything to distract herself from her arm. 

The words repeating in her mind were the worst. She could distract herself from her pain, but she couldn’t distract herself from Shadow Weaver’s voice in her head, even though she was right. It was her own stupid mistake. If she hadn’t been so careless, if she hadn’t tried to save Rogelio from the bot, she wouldn’t have gotten the electrical burn. If it hadn’t been her fault, Shadow Weaver might have helped her. Might have helped her heal her arm. And she wouldn’t be in her bed sweating from the pain. 

“Adora!” 

_Catra._ Catra wasn’t there when she hurt herself. She was training with Lonnie and Kyle (since apparently, Catra was too much of a distraction for her) even though they were both nowhere close to as tough as Catra. 

Adora didn’t want to see her. She pretended to be asleep as the small cadet ran up to her and jumped onto her bed like she normally did. Adora didn’t want her to see her so weak. So vulnerable. So hurt. Catra was usually so invincible and Adora… wasn’t. 

“I know you’re faking, dummy,” Catra said and poked her cheek. Adora opened her eyes to find Catra standing over her, her wild eyes darting back and forth as she tilted her head, trying to figure out what was wrong. “I heard what happened.” She plopped down onto Adora’s legs. “Shadow Weaver is a--” 

“Leave me alone, Catra,” Adora cried out as she pushed her best friend off of her bed. She bit her lip harder. She didn’t want to cry. Not in front of Catra. Not in front of anyone. She couldn’t show weakness. 

Catra looked a little taken aback. Adora had never told her to leave before. 

“What?” 

She didn’t want to close her best friend out. She didn’t want to hurt her. Not after she promised Catra that they would have each other always. Adora never considered herself a liar, but part of her knew that she’d always be there for Catra, but couldn’t let Catra be there for her. She had to be strong. Like Shadow Weaver said. Being strong was what made a good soldier.

Adora just closed her eyes and tried to look away. Tried to imagine she was anywhere else. Anywhere but the Fright Zone with her wounds and her weaknesses and Shadow Weaver. She had never seen any other part of the world besides the Fright Zone, but she could imagine. She had heard about the Whispering Woods. She and Catra talked about exploring it, battling wild beasts, and taking control. Ruling over the woods, just the two of them. 

She could picture it. She and Catra resting on the grass, allowing her skin to become sunkissed as Catra told her stories about their future. She’d tell Catra she wanted to rule with her forever and make her laugh with a wrestle in the grass. She’d make Catra smile and Catra would hold her hand tight, promising she’d never let go. 

Out of pure excitement, she opened her eyes to tell Catra about her fantasy, only to find that she was alone. That Catra had done what she asked and left her. 

The tears came. She begged them to go away. She screamed for them to go away in her pillow, but they refused to stop flowing. She started to hear Shadow Weaver in her head again, chastising her for being too weak, too sensitive, and she stopped. It worked. She stopped crying. She stopped feeling anything at all.

* * *

ii

“Holy crap, Adora,” Lonnie gasped as she leaned against the green lockers, grinning like she had won a million ration bars. “You’re like into _into_ Catra!” 

Adora slammed her locker door shut and glared at her. This wasn’t the first time she had been accused of something so stupid and she was sure it probably wasn’t going to be the last time. She pushed Lonnie out of the way and tried to escape the room as quickly as possible. 

“No, I’m not.”

She was being honest with the other cadet; she wasn’t into Catra. She didn’t even really know what that meant. She had heard of cadets who had relationships, but Shadow Weaver had always told her that relationships got in the way of fighting. Of being a good soldier. Relationships were a distraction. Catra was her favorite person in the world but she couldn’t be into her. 

Lonnie jumped in front of her and said, “yes, you are. I finally figured it out, blondie. It’s why you two are like always together. Does Shadow Weaver know? That her future Force Captain wants to f--” 

Adora pushed Lonnie into the lockers with a kind of intense force and anger she only reserved for her training. The kind of anger that Shadow Weaver trained her to have when only fighting the rebellion and princesses. The kind of anger she was normally able to control as easily as every single other emotion. 

Lonnie raised her eyebrows and smirked, making Adora shove her into the wall harder. She wanted to wipe the look off her face. She wanted to--

“Look at you, Adora. If you weren’t so into her, you wouldn’t get this angry. Look, I’m just saying it like it is.” 

She hit her. Hard. It didn’t hurt Adora’s hand like she thought it would. Her hand was shaking and red, but it didn’t hurt. She didn’t know why she hit her. She never cared what anyone said to her before and she had never wanted to hit one of her own. Never. They were on the same team, always. But Lonnie’s words made her feel...

“I’m…” She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t apologize for what she did. All she could do was walk away and pretend like she couldn’t hear Lonnie groaning and murmuring curses at her. She just hoped that Shadow Weaver’s punishment would be physical. She could handle that. She always could. 

“Where are you running off to?” 

Adora swiftly turned her around, her chest and head pounding as she found herself face to face with Catra, who was looking at her like… no. She swallowed it. Swallowed whatever she was starting to feel. The rage. The embarrassment. The… whatever weird feeling she had around Catra. The feeling that she could only describe as heat. 

She started to walk away, not being able to handle Catra and all the emotions she couldn’t control around her.

Catra quickly caught up with her and started to walk beside her. “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but are you feeling okay, loser?” 

She didn’t want Catra’s concern. She never did and she never will. It was what made her stronger than the rest. What made her Shadow Weaver’s favorite. What would make her Force Captain, eventually. 

“I’m fine, Catra.” 

Catra raised one eyebrow and her face filled with what Adora recognized as worry. “You’re not. It’s totally obvious, Adora. What’s wrong?” She reached out for the blonde, reached out for her hand like Adora always did for her. Adora snatched her hand away.

“Nothing,” Adora muttered and tried to walk away faster. She didn’t want to feel it. She didn’t want to feel the _heat._

Catra jumped and pounced on top of Adora, pinning Adora’s wrists to the ground. Adora wiggled, but couldn’t get free. The _heat._ They landed in this position all the time during training, but it was different this time. This time, the heat pooled through Adora’s entire body and roared through every nerve, every fiber of her being. 

“Adora, was it Shadow Weaver? Because if it was, I’ll--” 

“It’s _me,_ Catra!” Adora shouted before she could stop herself, before she could think it through. “I’m the problem. There’s something _wrong_ with me.” 

That got Catra to get off of her. She just stared at Adora with a look that even Adora hadn’t seen before. And she thought she knew Catra better than anyone. 

“There’s nothing wrong with you. Believe me, you’re an idiot, Adora, but there’s nothing wr--” 

“Then why do I feel this way?” Adora asked her, her voice shaking and wavering in ways it never had before. “Why do I feel--” 

_“What?”_

Adora couldn’t say it. The words were like thick sludge in the back of her throat. She couldn’t explain exactly what she was feeling. She just knew that it was a lot. That it was overwhelming. That whatever she felt for Catra, it was too much. 

“It’s nothing,” Adora finally breathed out, her heart beating so hard out of her chest she thought that it might burst. She just wanted it all to stop. “Nothing.” 

She thought maybe if she repeated it enough, it’d become a reality.

* * *

iii

The thunder sounded like a beast and Adora jumped up in the air and considered turning into She-Ra, hoping that maybe, if she was an eight foot tall warrior, she’d feel safer. She held her legs together as she rocked herself in her bedroom amongst her hundreds of pillows, hoping that the plush would remind her of…

“Adora!” Glimmer shouted as she and Bow ran into her room, giggling as they jumped into the pile of pillows that Adora had created around her, not noticing the look of horror that planted on Adora’s face. “Do you hear the storm? It’s really crazy out there. My mom said it might last for _hours.”_

“That means for hours we can have a,” Bow pushed Glimmer into the pile of pillows and shouted, “pillow fight!” 

Glimmer squealed as she threw a pillow at Bow’s head as he began to chase her around the bedroom. Adora watched with agony. Them playing around, it reminded her of--

“Adora! I’m going to get you!” Glimmer ran at her with a pillow in her hand and without even thinking about it, Adora pushed her best friend away from her, causing Glimmer to fall onto the floor. 

“Glimmer!” Bow shouted and helped her get up, even though she didn’t seem too hurt. “Are you okay?” 

Adora watched with complete terror. She hadn’t meant to push Glimmer to the ground. She hadn’t meant to do any of it. She just…

“I’m fine!” Glimmer reassured him and brushed off her outfit, turning to look at Adora with what the blonde expected to be anger, but it wasn’t. “Adora, are you okay? Did I do something?” 

Bile rose up in Adora’s throat. She pulled at tufts of her hair and rolled into a ball. She hadn’t meant to hurt Glimmer. She hadn’t meant to… she lost control. She worked so hard on it, worked so hard on the emotions she knew that could control her if she let it. She could hear Shadow Weaver. Hear her yell at her for losing control, for being too sensitive. 

“Adora?” Glimmer was softer and Adora could feel her and Bow sit close to her. “It’s okay, you didn’t hurt me. I’m completely fine.” 

“I’m sorry,” Adora apologized, afraid to look at them, afraid to see them look at her with pity. She was sure they could tell she was weak. Nothing like She-Ra or the warrior they needed. She was sure they’d quickly realize that she wasn’t good enough. That she could never be the hero everyone prophesied. Or the friend. 

“You’re fine!” Glimmer told her in a light voice, like she really meant it. “Seriously, Adora. You’re fine. I shouldn’t have come at you like that. I’m sure in the Horde--” 

_“Glimmer.”_

“No, Bow,” Glimmer interrupted, sounding a little frustrated. “I’m sure lots of terrible things happened in the Horde that made you… but you should know that Bow and I, we will never try to hurt you. We’re your friends.” 

Adora knew that. She _knew_ that. But somehow knowing didn’t really seem to matter much. Because she still _felt_ like no matter what, Bow and Glimmer would soon realize that Adora was weak and vulnerable and not good enough. 

But she swallowed her fear. She swallowed her fear and opened herself up to find Glimmer and Bow staring at her with concern and fear and all Adora wanted to do was make it go away. Because she wanted to be _their_ warrior. More than anything. 

“I’m sorry,” Adora whispered and tried to smile and laugh to make them believe that she was okay. “I think it’s the storm.” 

She didn’t tell them that storms always sounded louder in the Fright Zone. That Shadow Weaver saw her hide once and shamed her for being so childish. Or how Catra was always there to hold her, wrestle with her, and to distract her from the sound that made her want to hide as far away as she possibly could. She couldn’t tell them. Because then they would know for sure how weak she was. 

“It’s okay, Adora,” Bow told her with a grin. “I didn’t like storms either. Until _this one_ made me realize that storms always pass. Things always get better.” 

Adora couldn’t ingest his words. Instead, she tried to ignore the sounds of beasts roaring outside her window and smiled harder.

* * *

iv

She didn’t know her. She didn’t know Mara. Not really. Not in the way people really know people. But Adora felt connected to her. Not just because of She-Ra or their shared destiny, but because Adora now knew what Mara did, how she sacrificed, how she _died._ Mara wasn’t a screw up, she was their savior. Adora was so worried about becoming her, about not being a good enough She-Ra, when Mara was the one who saved everyone. Compared to her, Adora hadn’t done much of anything. 

“Adora,” Bow greeted as he sat down next to her on the bare floor of Mara’s ship. “How are you doing?”

She hated that question (she had learned at an early age to always be okay) and didn’t know how to answer.

They had left Etheria against the orders of Glimmer. Against the orders of their best friend. Bow’s person. Adora hated how they left things, hated what Glimmer has said to her (because those were the things she hated herself for). She could hear Shadow Weaver in Glimmer’s words, the way she told her she wasn’t good enough. That she wasn’t a good enough She-Ra. That she was to be blamed for Angella’s death. That she should’ve been the dead one. It was one thing for Adora to already believe it. But Glimmer, her best friend, believing it… 

The last thing she wanted to do was talk about it. She was sure that if she told Bow, he would side with his best friend. And Adora couldn’t handle that. Besides, she knew that Bow was reeling about Glimmer, too. 

“How am I? How are you, Bow?” 

He shook his head and said, “I know this is the right thing to do. Saving Entrapta. But… I don’t want to lose her.” 

Adora already felt like she lost Glimmer. Just like she lost Catra. And probably everyone else in her life. But Bow was different. He had a chance. 

“You won’t, Bow. She loves you.” 

Bow tensed up and really looked at her, his eyes staring with an intensity that Adora had never experienced from him before. “Do you think she… in what way do you think she loves me?”

Adora stared at him blankly. Truth be told, she never thought about the kind of love that Bow and Glimmer shared. She just knew they were best friends. That they’d always be best friends. She never thought that they… wanted to be more than that. She never… she didn’t think that friends… 

“You’ll get to ask her yourself, Bow. It’ll be fine.” For him, she truly believed that was the case. For herself… she didn’t see making up with Glimmer in her future. 

And maybe that was part of her destiny. Being alone. Because in the end, Mara died alone. And Adora couldn’t come up with a scenario where that didn’t happen to her. If Mara died to save the world, Adora would have to die, too. To be a good enough She-Ra. And she would do so gladly. So that the people she cared about could live freely. 

“It’ll be fine for you, too, Adora. Glimmer will forgive both of us. We’ll be back to Best Friend Squad in no time. She’ll understand what we did. What we had to do.” 

Forgiveness was still such a strange concept to Adora. Forgiveness didn’t really exist in the Horde. There was only ever proving your worth to make up for whatever wrong you had done. She had been around Bow and Glimmer long enough that forgiveness was different for almost everyone else. But she still didn’t know how to deserve it. 

“Adora?” 

“Hmm?” She looked up at him and noticed that he was waiting for her to say something. She gulped and tried to figure out what he’d want her to say. “Yeah. I’m sure she will.”

* * *

v

_Her bed._ Her small bed that Glimmer and Bow had gotten her because she wasn’t used to anything fancier or more comfortable. Adora sat on it, felt the blanket beneath her fingers, and smiled. She had learned so much here. Bow and Glimmer and all the other princesses had shown her so much, shown her how good her life could be, shown her how she could make a difference. It was so different from the Fright Zone, so different than the cold chambers she had lived in. She was allowed to be herself. Allowed to live in her own skin and not be afraid of being punished for it. 

She was lucky. Lucky to be back home, lucky to be _alive._

Deep down, she knew that things could have happened a whole lot differently. She knew that she could’ve ended up like Mara did. She was even ready to end up like Mara did. 

“Hey, Adora,” Adora turned around to find Catra leaning on the doorframe, whistling. “I have to say, I’m surprised Sparkles and Arrow Boy let you have basically a cot. I was sure you’d have a huge cushion-y bed made out of gold.” 

Adora snorted and watched as Catra sauntered into the room, somehow looking like she was out of place and owned the place at the same time. Bow and Glimmer told her they were giving them time to be together, whatever that meant. And now Catra was close and Adora felt the _heat._

“I couldn’t sleep on the bed,” Adora explained quietly, not really knowing what to say, not knowing how to not be awkward around Catra now that they… kissed. “Well, actually, I broke the bed.” 

Catra’s eyebrows rose as she approached the bed. “You _broke_ the bed? What were you doing to break the bed?” 

Adora could read the innuendo all over Catra’s face and she bolted straight up from the bed, becoming face to face with her (though Adora’s face was much redder). “Um… I--” 

“I’m kidding, idiot,” Catra said and laughed like it was funny. She reached out and touched Adora’s arm and the blonde felt the flutter in her stomach. “I wish you could have seen your face, Adora. You were like ‘blah’!” 

Adora rolled her eyes at Catra’s impression of her and tried to ignore the heat that seemed to spread around her entire body. But it felt more electric, this time. Tingly. It was a better feeling than before. Before Catra had told her she loved her. 

“I did not make that face.” 

Catra tilted her head and did her little lopsided grin thing that made Adora feel almost faint. “You did, cupcake. I’m telling you. It was _hilarious._ So how is the bed situation?” Catra flopped onto Adora’s bed and sighed as she laid back. “I hope they give me one of these. Think I can convince the _Queen?”_

Adora nodded, feeling a little startled. Catra was talking to her as if nothing happened. As if they were back in the Fright Zone and had never betrayed each other. As if Adora hadn’t saved Catra and Catra hadn’t saved her. As if Catra hadn’t told her she loved her. As if Adora hadn’t realized that what she felt for Catra (the millions of uncontrollable emotions) had also been love the moment that Catra had said those words. 

“I-I’m sure you can.” 

“Hey, Adora, what’s wrong?” 

Catra reached for Adora’s hand, but Adora pulled away. She didn’t know how to handle all of this. Being home, being free, being with Catra. It was all so much all at once. 

“Nothing,” she quickly tried to reassure her, afraid to tell her how she really felt. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about--” 

“C’mon, Adora. This is insane. So it’s fine if you worry about me, but I can’t worry about you? That’s a little hypocritical, don’t you think?” 

It was. Adora knew that it was. But she didn’t know how to let people worry about her. She spent years training herself to be okay so that no one had to worry about her. She thought being okay meant her being strong, so that’s how she carried herself. 

And being vulnerable for Catra? 

“I know,” Adora whispered, feeling out of place. “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t apologize,” Catra told her matter-of-factly. “I don’t want you to apologize to me for that. I know you, Adora. I know how you put yourself last. I just wish… that you could tell me what was going on with you. I know I’m not the best person to go to with… emotions, but I’m here for you.” 

Adora tried to tell herself that Catra wasn’t lying. That she could be honest with her and that it would all be okay. That Catra wouldn’t leave. 

“Catra, I--” she couldn’t say it. She couldn’t. She couldn’t say anything at all.

* * *

vi (v+i)

Adora knew that it was coming. She laid down on her bed and waited for the cavalry. She only had to wait for a few minutes. Her friends bombarded her soon after Catra had silently left after Adora couldn’t give her what she wanted, what she needed. 

“Adora! Catra’s scratching the walls and yelling about all princesses being idiots,” Glimmer exclaimed as she and Bow entered her bedroom, her hands on her hips like a frustrated parent. “What happened?” 

She groaned and covered her head with her own pillow. She was lucky that her best friends had never really interrogated her about Catra (or her feelings about Catra), but she was not ready for them to start now. And she definitely didn’t want to discuss why she was so… weird around her. 

“Why do you think something happened?” Adora asked, her voice muffled by the pillow. 

“Um,” Glimmer pulled the pillow out of her hands. “Because she came out of _your_ room and started to, oh, I don’t know, have a _tantrum!_ What happened, Adora?” 

Adora bit her lip and opened her mouth, but no words fell out. 

“It’s okay, Adora,” Bow whispered gently as he sat on the floor so that he could look up at Adora, his eyes sympathetic and careful. “A _lot_ has happened in the last few days. It’s okay if you’re overwhelmed. I mean _I’m_ overwhelmed and I have the best girlfriend _and_ friend in the world.” 

“Awww, Bow!” Glimmer gushed at him with what Adora could only describe as ‘heart eyes’. 

He smiled at her before turning his attention back to the blonde. “So I’m just saying, it’s okay to be overwhelmed. But Catra might not know you feel overwhelmed. Sometimes you have to tell people when you feel bad.” 

Adora shook her head. “I don’t feel bad. Why would I feel bad? Pshh, I feel fine. There’s literally no reason for me to not feel fine.” 

Both Glimmer and Bow glared at her before Glimmer said, “Adora, sweetie, you’re not a good liar. You have never been a good liar.” 

Adora crossed her arms and dramatically exhaled. “I am a _fine_ liar.” She waited for them to react and stop staring at her, but they didn’t. She groaned, “Ugh, guys! Why can’t you back me up here?” 

Glimmer sighed and sat down on the bed next to her. “Because, Adora, we know what you’re doing. And I think-- _we_ think--that you’re afraid to open up because you never want us to think that you’re hurting.” 

“We get it, we really do--” 

“But, Adora, the relationship you have with Catra, it’s different than the one you have with us. Adora, why are you looking at me like I’m speaking in a different language?” 

Adora shrugged, not knowing how to handle her own embarrassment. She did not like this. She did not want to talk about her feelings (especially her feelings for Catra). She did not like feeling so bombarded, so interrogated, so suffocated. 

“I’m not, I’m--I don’t know what you want me to say, here.” 

“We don’t want you to say anything you’re not comfortable with, Adora,” Bow explained again in his caring tone, “but we just want you to know that you can tell us anything. And better yet, you can tell Catra anything. She may be one scary cat, but it’s obvious that she loves you. None of us would judge you for whatever you may be feeling.” 

Adora looked down at her hands. Her warm, blood flowing, hands. Her very _alive_ hands. She was still in a state of disarray. Sometimes she caught herself staring at her hands expecting to find it limp. 

She looked up and found her friends staring back at her, looking at her without pity, but with love. _Love._ Her friends loved her. She knew this. She knew that she wouldn’t judge Bow or Glimmer for anything they told her. But she still felt tethered to the idea that they _could._ But they wouldn’t. She knew they wouldn’t. They were her friends. They were there for her. 

Adora ignored every other thought in her head and quickly confessed, “I’m feeling so much all the time and I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t know how to _stop_ it.” 

Bow and Glimmer shared a look before they tackled her with a hug. They were wrapping their arms around her and she only barely flinched. She had gotten better with that. She knew they loved her. She knew it. 

“Oh, Adora,” Glimmer muttered with tears falling down her cheeks. “It’s really okay. You almost died. We won a war. Catra’s home. It’s a lot to take in. Anyone in your place would feel the same.” 

“Emotions are hard to deal with,” Bow agreed with the nod of his head. “But emotions allow us to love. Emotions are _good,_ Adora. They make us _stronger.”_

Adora gaped at him. She was raised to believe that her emotions made her weaker. That her kindness and _love_ would make her a bad soldier. She had spent so much time trying to detach from everything she felt to be the warrior she thought everyone deserved, but in the end, it was her feelings for Catra, Catra’s _love_ and her love for Catra _,_ that saved her. 

“Adora?” 

“I have to go!” Adora jumped up from the bed and turned back to her friends and smiled at them. “I have to go find Catra!” 

Glimmer and Bow just grinned back at her and chanted for her to ‘go get her girl’ as she ran out of the room, feeling her heart thump in her chest. As she ran through the castle, she had flashes of memories rush to her. Flashes of memories with Catra when she _felt_ things. Felt things she thought she wasn’t allowed to feel. Moments where Catra grabbed her hand or wrestled her to the floor or just said her name. Moments where she felt the _heat._

Catra was exactly where Adora knew she’d be. The tallest place in the castle; the place closest to the sky. She was perched, her legs and tail dangling from the balcony as she looked out at the vastness of the universe. Adora let out a soft chuckle. She _loved_ her. 

“Hey, Catra.” 

Catra jumped and turned to look at Adora. At first, the blonde thought she was mad. But the look of anger quickly vanished into something else. Worry, maybe. Whatever it was, it was soft. And all Adora wanted to do was kiss her, love her. 

“You’re crying.” 

“Oh!” Adora wiped her cheek and realized that she was, indeed, crying. She hadn’t realized. “I must look like an idiot.” For a second, she stiffened. But as Catra slowly approached her, she calmed down. 

“You’re an idiot, Adora,” Catra whispered and reached out to wipe her tears away. “But crying does _not_ make you an idiot.” 

Adora snorted softly and said, “I am an idiot. I have been an idiot. Catra… Shadow Weaver--” 

Catra interrupted her with a kiss and all of Adora’s speech she had just made in her head washed away. Catra just cupped her cheeks and kissed her harder as Adora wrapped her hands around Catra’s waist, pulling her closer. As close as she could possibly get. 

Between kisses, Adora tried to breathe out her name, but Catra was sneaky. She just added to the intensity until Adora felt a numbness she had never experienced before. Like she was being pulled into a trance, all she felt was the _heat_ and Catra. 

But Catra finally pulled away, leaving Adora’s lips (and rest of her body) buzzing. 

“Adora, I know.” 

“What?” 

Catra sighed and tenderly grabbed a hold of both of Adora’s hands. “I know what Shadow Weaver did to you.” 

All the air knocked out of Adora’s lungs as she broke eye contact with Catra and looked down at her feet. She couldn’t look at Catra. She wouldn’t. 

“Hey,” Catra pushed Adora’s chin up to force her to look at her. “Don’t do that. Don’t you dare feel any shame for what that woman did to you. To _us._ She hurt you, Adora. She _hurt_ you. And you should be fucking livid about what she did. But you shouldn’t let her win. You shouldn’t let her have control over--” 

This time, Adora interrupted her with a kiss. Catra was obviously startled, but she sunk into the kiss faster than Adora would have ever thought. 

“Catra,” Adora whispered when she pulled away, “Catra, there’s a lot going on in my mind, right now. But I don’t want to shut you out. I never want to shut you out again.” 

Catra tilted her head and did her lopsided grin again before giving her a peck on the lips. “That’s because you _love_ me.” 

Adora rolled her eyes and smiled. “I do love you, ya doof.” 

“That’s good to know,” Catra replied, smirking devilishly. “Because I love you, too. Despite all of your insane friends.” 

“Yeah, sure. You love them, too.” When Catra shook her head, Adora snorted and pulled Catra back toward the ledge. She looked out at the sky and admitted, “I think I’ve loved you for a very long, long time.” 

“I knew it,” Catra shouted before Adora glared at her playfully. _“What?_ I did.” She slowly intertwined her fingers between Adora’s and smiled when the blonde rested her head on Catra’s shoulder. “But you know what?” 

“What?” 

“I bet I loved you longer.” 

Adora felt her body roar with heat at Catra’s words. She _liked_ it, now. The _heat._ She more than liked it. 

“Puh-lease,” Adora joked as she nudged Catra’s shoulder before resting her head back on it. “There’s no way you could have loved me longer. But if you want to prove it to me… I won’t stop you.” 

“Hmmm,” Catra murmured in the sultry voice that made the heat in Adora multiply. “I think I will.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Please leave a comment and let me know whatcha think! :D


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